July 2012

Update: Sunday's blood drive has no more open slots. People may still sign up to be a bone marrow donor.

Hosted at Boys & Girls Club, the effort is led by Ballard resident Sean Cryan, who is fighting Myelodysplastic Syndrome, a bone marrow cancer. Cryan has already found a donor, but wants to encourage people to donate blood and sign up to donate bone marrow, especially for minority and mixed races.

"There is always a need for possible stem cell donors, but there is an urgent need for donors from minority and mixed races," Cryan wrote in an email. "We are trying to approach the day when everyone needing a transplant is able to find a match – currently that is hardest for minorities, and we’d like to grow that part of the donor list as well."

No advanced sign-up is necessary to get on the bone marrow donor roll. Prospective donors only need to fill out a questionnaire and get a cheek swab. Donors must be between the ages of 16 and 80.

The drive will take place at the Ballard Boys and Girls Club, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and will be closed 11-11:45 a.m.

Press release:

Congressman Jim McDermott will be in Burien on Saturday, July 14th at 1 p.m. for a question and answer session at the Burien Library, 400 S.W. 152nd St.

Burien and neighboring Normandy Park are now part of the 7th Congressional District, where Congressman McDermott is running for re-election.

All of Washington’s Congressional Districts have been redrawn by the Washington State Redistricting Commission.

Congressman McDermott, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, will take questions from the community on a variety of topics. Joining the congressman will be Senator Karen Keiser and Representative Tina Orwall.

The question and answer session will begin at 1 p.m. All are welcome.

A proposed ropes and zip line course that would be installed in Lincoln Park has met with opposition from the community. Last August Seattle Parks selected a 10 year old company from the United Kingdom called Go Ape to begin the development of a proposal for a six to 9 acre area in the park that would combine rope ladders, zip lines, rope bridges, trapezes and swings. The company operates 27 such parks in the U.K. and three so far in the U.S.

Concerns about disturbing the natural environment of the park have arisen with a Facebook page called Stop the Go Ape Zip line being established as a rallying point. The company has faced opposition before, and their plans were halted in two U.K locations.

The Seafair Pirates announced their presence off shore (as if this was necessary) with powerful cannon blasts then lowered the front of their landing craft and stormed ashore on Saturday, July 7, as Seafair got seriously underway.

Led this year by Lance "Clapeye" English the pirates plunged through the water very near bathhouse where a crowd of thousands was on hand to greet them.

Due to a sand bar, the pirates landed more than100 feet from shore. Some pirates waded through the chilly bay while others were greeted at their vessel, and given rides by traditional Native American canoes . One canoe, the "Raven", belongs to the Duwamish tribe and is generally displayed at their Longhouse Museum in West Seattle. This was the first time the Raven was in the water after her new, bright red and black paint job.

The festivities started early with music and merriment getting underway at 9:30am.Vendors selling pirate related gear, food and more were part of the event.

The event centers every year around the Alki Bathhouse at 1702 Alki Ave. s.w.

Inflatable rides were on hand for the kids.

July 4 was a busy day for Washington State's gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Jay Inslee, former 1st District Congressman, and his Republican opponent, Attorney General Rob McKenna, each marching in multiple parades, and each vying to replace Chris Gregoire who retires at year's end.

In Inslee's case, however, the broad grin he wore in the Burien Independence Day Parade was due, in part, to his memories as a youth there the celebration evoked.

The following day, Inslee met with the West Seattle Herald in front of Shorewood Elementary School where he attended grade school before attending nearby Cascade Middle School. He lived three blocks east of Shorewood.

"This school has been totally rebuilt. It's absolutely beautiful now. This is where I spent most of my youth, trying to hit a ball out of the park. Home plate was where this manhole cover is. (Located in the circular drive in front of the new school.) I never hit it over. But then I was MVP in the Congressional baseball Game so it all turned out."

Singer Bob De Dea will salute Bobby Darin in Singin' and Swingin' with Bobby D. on Friday, July 13, at 7:30 at West Seattle's Kenyon Hall.

Kenyon Hall's impresario Lou Magor writes, "When I announced this show to last week's Kenyon Hall audience, we all launched into an impromptu, under-the-breath version of Beyond the Sea, reminding me that Bobby Darin's songs, from his first hit single, the 1958 ditty Splish Splash, to his 1960 Grammy Award winner, Mack the Knife, are an essential part of the American songbook."

De Dea's resume includes his recent role in Damn Yankees at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Appearing with De Saccompanist/arranger, pianist David Duvall, to Kenyon Hall for this exciting musical evening.

You can see a clip of Bob and David performing Mack the Knife on KING TV's New Day program. Magor writes, "Although this was a promotion for a larger show in Federal Way last month, on our intimate stage it'll be just Bob and David bringing us Bobby Darin's glorious music."

Here's the link to the clip: http://www.king5.com/new-day-northwest/Bob--159725155.html

By Cassandra Baker

11:00 a.m. on June 30th. 65th block of 23rd Ave NW

Police responded to reports of an assault in Ballard on the morning of June 30. A security guard said that the suspect hit the victim in the head with a coffee cup, causing a bleeding wound. The suspect ran away when the security guard approached him. The victim had already been taken to the hospital when the responding officer arrived at the scene, but the officer later spoke with the victim.

The victim said that he was standing by the coffee machine when he saw the suspect approaching. He told the suspect that he had heard from other homeless people that the suspect was a thief. The suspect then hit the victim over the head with a ceramic coffee mug. The victim’s shirt was soaked with blood when the officer saw him, and the emergency room doctor said that the victim would need about 10 staples to close the wound in his head. The victim said that he wanted to press charges against the suspect.

8:32 p.m. on June 29th. NW 58th St and 22nd Ave NW

The organization New Futures offers a spectrum of programs to assist teens and families in four area apartment complexes like English Language Learner (ELL) classes, translation services, and family advocacy services to help recent immigrant families including war refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal, and others.

However, because of economic challenges New Futures is forced to close its largest location, a four-unit apartment facility at The Heights of Burien. The Heights is an enormous apartment complex of 543 units at 1101 SW 139th St. and Ambaum Way SW. The other three facilities will remain open. They are Windsor Heights in Sea Tac, Woodridge Park in Boulevard Park, and the Arbor Heights Apartments.

The 2012 Hi-Yu Summer Festival Souvenir Book is available.

The book includes information on all Summer Festival events, including:
· Seafair Pirate’s Landing
· Junction Merchants Summer Fest (with music schedule)
· Concerts
· West Seattle Outdoor Movies
· And… The American Legion Grand Parade

Pick up your copy at West Seattle businesses beginning July 7th.

The 18th Annual West Seattle Garden Tour (WSGT) will be held on Sunday, July 15, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. This year's tour features nine spectacular West Seattle gardens, including a former winner in the Pacific Northwest Gardens Competition. Garden descriptions and photos can be found at www.westseattlegardentour.com.

Lorene Edwards Forkner is this year's guest lecturer. Lorene is a long time resident of West Seattle and her garden has been featured on many garden tours and profiled in several publications; you may remember her garden folly travel trailer from the 2011 WSGT. In addition to an active writing and speaking career, Lorene is the editor of Pacific Horticulture, a quarterly publication dedicated to exploring West Coast gardening life in print and online. Follow Lorene online as she blogs about gardens and the stories behind them at PlantedAtHome.com.